Disaster Strikes Again ... Courthouse Rises from Ashes

Disaster Strikes Again ... Courthouse Rises from Ashes. Yet again history was repeated when fire damaged the County's Courthouse on March 12, 1900. The upper floor of the 1879 building was destroyed and fell through to the first floor. The fire was believed to have started in the southeast section of the courthouse. Records in all the offices and books in the City Library were saved although water damaged. Records of the county school superintendent were destroyed., There was a great deal of debate about whether to build a new Courthouse or to restore the present Courthouse. After an examination of the brick walls revealed the building was structurally sound, and after County Judge C. W. Tyler stated adequate insurance was available to cover the restoration, renovation began in June 1900. County officials, as well as the library, were relocated during the construction period. A committee, consisting of E. L. Brewer, Finis Ewing, Baxter Watkins, J. H. Achey and J. A. Rollow, was appointed to consider the appraisals and to monitor the repairs. Later others were appointed to assist the Courthouse committee. This committee was instructed to follow the general plan and outlines of the building which had been partially destroyed, rebuilding the same as it stood before "by remedying as far as possible the defects which experience had shown existed in the original Courthouse.", Charles A. Moses and Company of Chicago, Illinois was the contractor and Kenneth McDonald of Louisville, Kentucky the supervising architect. Moses utilized a workforce of 25 to 36 men. New steps leading up to the Courthouse doors were made wider and contained four more steps for easier ascent. G. B. Wilson of Clarksville installed the finished hardwood on the interior. The trim on the second floor was oak, rather than walnut and steps to the tower were now in the courtroom, rather than in the hall., With some delays, the Courthouse reopened in March 1901. On April 25, 1901, the Elk's Masque Ball was held at the Courthouse with two bands from Nashville. The Courthouse was packed as the crowd, in elegant costumes and masks, danced the night away., Evelyn Scott summed up a typical Montgomery County Court day, 1937, in her book titled Background in Tennessee , "There was a smell about court days , manure, sweat, watermelons, horses, mules and tobacco! The aroma of a circus , an odor of life! Court days, somehow, always seemed the hottest of the summer.", In recent years, several phases of Courthouse restoration and renovation have been completed. On May 15, 1966, an open house and Courthouse re-dedication were held after renovation and a large landscaping project were completed. This included sandblasting the brick exterior, interior remodeling, clock repair, and exterior lighting. Later, other exterior and major interior improvements were accomplished along with the installation of an elevator and accessibility ramps. The final phase of the project was completed in 1981 with an open house on February 22, 1982., Captions , Left: Fire, the plague of the city, severely damaged the Courthouse on March 12, 1900. , Right: After a year of repair and renovation, the Courthouse, covered in banners, flags and bunting, reopened in March 1901.